Community Sports

Former Lancaster Bruins basketball star Sindarius Thornwell has been honored by the Southeastern Conference, selected to the SEC’s All-Defensive squad.
Thornwell is a force on both ends of the court for the Gamecocks.
Not only an offensive threat from both inside the lane and beyond the arc, he consistently guards the opponent’s top offensive threat on the defensive end.

Makenzy Mills and Taylor Teague, two Lancaster County seventh graders, are headed to the 2016 USA Swimming Eastern Section Southern Zone Age Group Championships in Atlanta, Ga. March 11-13.
The swimmers compete for Ms. Anne Small at the USC-Lancaster extension of the Upper Palmetto YMCA Stingrays.
On Feb. 12-15, the duo competed in the USA Swimming S.C. State Competition in Greenville.

The South Carolina Gamecocks will end their 12-year NCAA men’s tournament drought this season.
I got the certain word from the judge earlier this week.
Gamecock radio network color analyst, the Honorable Casey Manning, a state circuit judge, was in town for General Sessions Court.
Judge Manning granted me a court time out and gave his view on the Gamecocks’ postseason hoops hopes.

The “Net Results” Sun City Carolina Lakes’ 65-and-over ladies tennis team concluded an inspiring season recently in Dothan, Ala., losing to a powerful Arkansas team in the Sectional Finals.
The team qualified for the South Carolina State Championships by winning the Mid Carolina Tennis League regular season with a record of 5-1.
The state championship was played in Hilton Head on Nov. 6-9.

The Rucker Rams capped a season’s hoops sweep of rival South to capture the middle school boys conference championship with a 46-41 win over the Mustangs at the Lancaster High School gym on Thursday night.
The Rams’ five-point comeback win gave Rucker a sweep of Mustangs for the season.
Rucker posted a 37-21 win back in December at the South gym, but the hardwood rematch was tougher.
South led 19-18 at the half, but Rucker rallied to take a 27-26 lead after three periods and held on for the 46-41 victory.

Lancaster is due a golden football.
To be more specific, the late Jim “Butch” Duncan, a former Barr Street High School great and Lancaster Athletic Hall of Famer, is due one of those golden footballs, which in the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl, is given to a coach or player who played in a past Super Bowl.

The NFC Champion and Super Bowl 50-bound Carolina Panthers insist they will follow the same game plan, which has been a fine formula for their success this season.
The Cats say they will use the two-week preparation plan they followed at the end of the regular season to the divisional playoff game with Seattle. Following the Carolina Blue-print for success has set the Panthers as the “cat’s meow,” with a distinct roar across the NFL.
One tweak for the Panthers is their attire for Super Bowl L.

Mustapha Elgazar of Pageland repeated his win in the Resolute Reindeer 5K held at the University of South Carolina Lancaster on Dec. 12.
Elgazar posted an 18:51 to top the field. A year ago, Elgazar ran an 18:55 to take the victory in the Resolute Reindeer 5K.
The second overall male finisher was Matthew Collins with a 19:13 and Walker Kirkley was third in 19:58.
Andrea Brunsvold of Lancaster ran a 23:25 to finish as the top overall female. Brunsvold was followed by Elizabeth Monroe in a 23:36 and Sydney Cauthen was third in 24:18.

Clemson battling Alabama is nothing new to former Tigers’ great Jimmy Catoe, who starred at old Kershaw High School under the late Bill Few before heading to play at Tigertown under the legendary Frank Howard in the mid-1960s.
For Catoe, a crackerjack linebacker in his day at Clemson, facing the Tide is old helmet, uh, “old hat,” akin to “Bear” Bryant’s familiar black and white “hounds tooth” cover.

Clemson University football fans are excited about the Tigers’ upcoming clash with Alabama to decide college football’s national champion.
The No. 1 Tigers, fresh off a 37-17 rout of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, battle the No. 2 Crimson Tide, which mauled Michigan State, 38-0 in the Cotton Bowl, for the national crown on Jan. 11 at 8:30 p.m. in the University of Phoenix Stadium at Glendale, Ariz.